1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display for vehicles and, more particularly, to a display device for vehicles which has a visor for preventing the incidence of external light.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a convertible in which display devices on an instrument panel are likely to be exposed to external light, or in a sports car in which a front window is mounted at an acute angle of inclination, a visor is mounted to prevent the incidence of the external light to the display surface, or to prevent the reflected rays of sunlight from a cover lens of the display devices from entering the range of sight of the rider (or driver).
FIG. 6 is a side view of a convent dashboard known in the art including a visor. In this drawing, the instrument panel P located in the upper part of the dashboard M is extended to form the visor V, thereby preventing incidence of the external light S to the dashboard M.
The use of the visor V of the length L1 can protect the first display device D1 located on the dashboard M from the external light S falling from above. Recently it has been proposed to set a second display device D2 obliquely below the first display device D1. To protect the eyes of the rider R from the light falling onto the position of the second display device D2 and from the reflected light from the cover lens, the visor V is required to be extended to the length L2.
However, if the visor V is increased in length, the rider""s vision to the dashboard M will be limited. Also if the visor V is extended with the distance between the rider and the vehicle body left unchanged, the distance between the rider and the display surface will increase, resulting in a hard-to-view display. Also, a large visor will spoil the appearance and design of the vehicle.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H1-275286 and Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. H2-39986, the vertical arrangement of two displays in a motorcycle has been disclosed, in which the upper display is placed toward the rear of the vehicle, that is, toward the rider. In the motorcycle, the light falling from above onto the lower display can be prevented by the upper display.
According to the motorcycle disclosed in the patent and utility model stated above, it is not necessary to take into account the lower display when determining the length of the visor. However, there exist such problems that the lower display is located far from the rider and that the light shielding range and sight of the lower display are unequivocally determined. Therefore, it is difficult to set the shielding range and sight with the lower display taken into consideration.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a display device for vehicles that can solve the above problems by preventing the incidence of external light onto a plurality of display surfaces, thereby providing an easy-to-view display surface for the rider.
To attain the above-described object, the display device for vehicles of this invention is provided with an instrument panel including a plurality of display sections. The first feature of this display device is to comprise a first visor mounted above the instrument panel, and a second visor mounted in the boundary position of the display section to divide the instrument panel surface into upper and lower zones as viewed from the rider.
According to the first feature, the instrument panel is divided into the upper and lower zones, and the lower display section is shaded by the second visor. Therefore, the size of the first visor may be determined taking into account the interruption of light falling onto the upper display section. It is therefore possible to decrease the projection amount of the first visor toward the rider. Furthermore, because a plurality of display sections is divided by the second visor, the rider can easily recognize information displayed on the plurality of display sections.
The second feature of this invention lies in that, of the plurality of display sections divided by the second visor, the display surface of the lower display section is located closer to the rider than the display surface of the upper display section.
According to the second feature, the lower display section can be extended toward the rider, making it possible to furnish a wide display surface area. The incidence of the external light can thus be prevented by the second visor by increasing the display surface area.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.